Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to extend mental health education in schools to (a) colleges and (b) post-16 institutions.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department has made health education compulsory in all state-funded schools, helping pupils to make good decisions about their health and wellbeing and seek support when needed.
While there is no national curriculum in post-16, the government encourages a whole-institution approach to mental health and wellbeing. This includes supporting the Association of Colleges in their goal for 100% sign-up to their Mental Health Charter and to align it with the University Mental Health Charter.
All further education (FE) colleges are funded to provide health and wellbeing tuition as part of their extra-curricular personal development activities. Many FE colleges have counselling services providing mental health support and 41% of learners in post-16 institutions are now covered by NHS-funded mental health support teams.
The government is committed to continuing the higher education (HE) Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The Taskforce includes students, parents, mental health experts and the HE sector, and the government will soon appoint a new HE Student Support Champion as chair.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has any plans to reopen Senior Mental Health Lead training grants.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The government has committed to expand coverage of mental health support teams (MHSTs) to cover every school, and one of the functions of an MHST is to support mental health leads to introduce or develop a whole school or college approach in their setting.
Training grants for mental health leads in education settings were available from October 2021 until December 2024.
Demand for training grants fell in the final months of the scheme and education staff surveys identified a different need, for practical resources. The department now provides a mental health lead resource hub, a targeted support toolkit for schools and colleges.
There are no plans to re-open the scheme providing mental health lead training grants.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to implement recommendation 1 of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel national review into safeguarding children with disabilities and complex needs in residential settings, published in October 2022.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s recommendations for safeguarding children with disabilities and complex health needs in residential settings were set out in their phase 2 report published in April 2023. Recommendation 1 concerned the provision of specialist non-instructed advocacy services.
The department is determined to improve the provision of advocacy services. We will publish updated statutory guidance on the provision of effective advocacy services under the Children Act 1989 and updated national standards for children’s advocacy services, later this year. The latter will include a new standard on non-instructed advocacy for children with complex needs and learning disabilities and new requirements for advocacy services in the safeguarding of children.
The government set out this information, including its commitment to publishing revised National Standards on Children’s Advocacy, in the report ‘Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update’ which was published on 8 April 2025 and is available on the government’s website.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Growth and Skills Levy effectively reduces skills gaps identified by Skills England.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood to the answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39389.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of funding through the growth and skills levy will employers be able to spend on non-apprenticeship training.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40142.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish guidance on funding rules and criteria for the Growth and Skills Levy on the number of apprenticeship starts in the 2025-26 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby
The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2025/2026 academic year were published on 15 May 2025 on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-funding-rules-2025-to-2026.
These include guidance for employers and providers on the growth and skills offer, including on foundation and shorter duration apprenticeships. All apprenticeships starting on or after 1 August 2025 will be subject to these rules unless otherwise specified.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to provide guidance to (a) providers and (b) employers on the growth and skills levy.
Answered by Janet Daby
The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2025/2026 academic year were published on 15 May 2025 on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-funding-rules-2025-to-2026.
These include guidance for employers and providers on the growth and skills offer, including on foundation and shorter duration apprenticeships. All apprenticeships starting on or after 1 August 2025 will be subject to these rules unless otherwise specified.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of functional skills requirements on access to apprenticeships; and what the cost of Functional Skills training for people who already have a degree was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government has announced changes to the rules relating to achievement of English and mathematics qualifications as part of an apprenticeship for those aged 19 or over at the start of their programme. Upskilling in English and mathematics will continue to remain a key feature of all apprenticeships, and we have listened to employers and will be offering more flexibility over when a standalone qualification is required in addition to this.
All apprentices will be required to secure and be assessed on the job-specific skills English and mathematics they need, but moving forward employers will have more flexibility over whether adult (19+) apprentices are required to achieve a standalone English and mathematics qualifications.
In future, adult apprentices will be able to complete their apprenticeship if they have demonstrated they have the skills, including relevant English and mathematics skills, to be effective in the role without undertaking a standalone English and mathematics qualification.
All apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship will continue to be required and funded to secure up to a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics if they do not hold one, consistent with our expectation that all young people should have a meaningful further opportunity to secure a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics post-16.
This delivers the flexibility that employers have long called for and we expect it to lead to thousands more qualified apprentices in a range of key sectors, including in social care and construction.
The changes were made effective from 11 February 2025.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to review compulsory functional skills requirements for apprentices who do not hold a GCSE or Level 2 equivalent qualification in English and maths.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government has announced changes to the rules relating to achievement of English and mathematics qualifications as part of an apprenticeship for those aged 19 or over at the start of their programme. Upskilling in English and mathematics will continue to remain a key feature of all apprenticeships, and we have listened to employers and will be offering more flexibility over when a standalone qualification is required in addition to this.
All apprentices will be required to secure and be assessed on the job-specific skills English and mathematics they need, but moving forward employers will have more flexibility over whether adult (19+) apprentices are required to achieve a standalone English and mathematics qualifications.
In future, adult apprentices will be able to complete their apprenticeship if they have demonstrated they have the skills, including relevant English and mathematics skills, to be effective in the role without undertaking a standalone English and mathematics qualification.
All apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship will continue to be required and funded to secure up to a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics if they do not hold one, consistent with our expectation that all young people should have a meaningful further opportunity to secure a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics post-16.
This delivers the flexibility that employers have long called for and we expect it to lead to thousands more qualified apprentices in a range of key sectors, including in social care and construction.
The changes were made effective from 11 February 2025.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Growth and Skills Levy enables people to retrain in (a) technology and (b) digital skills.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and support employers to develop the skilled workforces they need to help drive economic growth.
Skills England has been established to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. It will work closely with the Industrial Strategy Council and the Migration Advisory Committee to achieve this.
The government’s new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors. Digital and Technologies has been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is considering how it supports this sector to develop the skills needed now and in the future.
Additionally, the government is reforming the apprenticeship levy into a new growth and skills levy that will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with the Industrial Strategy. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.
Skills England was asked to engage with employers and other key partners regarding early priorities for the new growth and skills offer over the autumn. It has spoken to over 700 stakeholders, including representatives in the digital and technology sector, and has shared its findings with the department. Skills England will publish its findings from this engagement process in early 2025.